external image jfk.jpgJFK
Now that most families in the United States owned a television, the election of 1960 received quite a bit of attention. Some will argue that Kennedy's good looks and laid back demeanor helped him win the election but they forget that he had many Americans worried because of his Catholic religion. But regardless, he won the election by 119,000 votes.
During Kennedy's presidency, one of his successes was boosting the economy. Though the economy during the 50s was doing well, it slowed towards the end. To bring it back up to speed Kennedy convinced congress to spend more on defense and space exploration thus creating more jobs and boosting the economy. He also pushed for a tax cut but congress refused afraid it would result in inflation.
It seems that Kennedy was a big advocate for the "underdog". He created the Presidential Commission on the Status of Women as a stand against gender discrimination as well as the Equal Pay Act to ensure equally paid employment for women. He also established the President's Panel on Mental Retardation to encourage more funding and research to help the mentally disabled.
All the while things are getting more and more tense between the US and the Soviet Union. Thus giving Kennedy the fight of containing communism.
An as if that wasn't enough, Kennedy also faced foreign policy crises in Berlin and Cuba.
But on November 22, 1963 President Kennedy was assassinated while in a car with his wife at his side. He had been ho once in the ead a once in the throat. The man accused of killing him was shot to death two days later. To this day there are countless conspiracies about the assassination.